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Michael Learned

Highest Rated: 74% Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993)

Lowest Rated: 50% Power (1986)

Birthday: Apr 9, 1939

Birthplace: Washington, D.C., USA

Intelligent, sometimes with a stern aura, yet attractive, warm and inviting, Michael Learned was a stage actress virtually unknown to TV viewers when she was cast as Olivia Walton, mother of John-Boy and the others, in the long-running CBS series "The Waltons" (1972-81). Assuming the role that Patricia Neal had originated in a TV-movie special, Learned was so unknown that she was originally billed as "Miss Michael Learned" lest the audience be confused as to her gender and about which part she was playing. A mother of three by the time she was 24, Learned had honed her craft primarily at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, where she performed leading roles in such classics as "Under Milk Wood," "Tartuffe" and "Private Lives." Recently separated from her first husband actor Peter Donat when she was cast in "The Waltons," she remained with the series until 1980 (a year before it ended its run), when her character was sent away with tuberculosis. During her tenure on the series, Learned earned three Best Actress Emmy Awards (in 1973, 1974 and 1976) for her turn as the stalwart matriarch. The actress made several attempts to recapture her TV success with the medically themed "Nurse" (CBS, 1981-82), which earned her a fourth Emmy, and as a doctor working in a psychiatric clinic in the short-lived "Hothouse" (ABC, 1988). In 1989, she tried sitcoms as den mother for models on ABC's "Living Dolls," a spin-off from "Who's the Boss?," which also starred Halle Berry.

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Highest rated movies

74% 79% Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
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73% 65% Loggerheads
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56% 13% The Alarmist
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50% 44% Power
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A Father for Brittany
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17% Lethal Eviction
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Little Mo
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90% The Waltons' Crisis
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Widow
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Off the Minnesota Strip
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Filmography

Movies

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet Second Acts Lee Marston (Character) - 2019
No Score Yet 59% An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong Louise Hanlon (Character) - 2009
No Score Yet 17% Lethal Eviction Elsa (Character) - 2005
73% 65% Loggerheads Sheridan Bellamy (Character) $115.2K 2005
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Father for Brittany Edna Humphreys (Character) - 1998
56% 13% The Alarmist Beth Hudler (Character) $61.7K 1997
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Walton Easter Olivia Walton (Character) - 1997
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Walton Wedding Olivia Walton (Character) - 1995
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion Olivia Walton (Character) - 1993
74% 79% Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story Vivian Emery (Character) $34.9M 1993
No Score Yet 27% Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Smart Story Judy Smart (Character) - 1991
No Score Yet 88% Aftermath: A Test of Love Irene (Character) - 1991
No Score Yet 46% Gunsmoke: The Last Apache Mike Yardner (Character) - 1990
No Score Yet 78% Roots: The Gift Amelia Parker (Character) - 1988
No Score Yet No Score Yet Mercy or Murder? Skipper (Character) - 1987
50% 44% Power Governor Andrea Stannard (Character) $3.1M 1986
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Deadly Business Ann (Character) - 1986
No Score Yet No Score Yet All My Sons Kate Keller (Character) - 1986
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Parade Rachel Kirby (Character) - 1984
No Score Yet No Score Yet Mother's Day on Walton's Mountain Olivia Walton (Character) - 1982
No Score Yet 40% A Christmas Without Snow Zoe Jensen (Character) - 1980
No Score Yet No Score Yet Off the Minnesota Strip Hughlene Johansen (Character) - 1980
No Score Yet 81% Touched by Love Dr. Bell (Character) - 1980
No Score Yet No Score Yet Nurse Mary Benjamin (Character) - 1980
No Score Yet No Score Yet Little Mo Eleanor Tennant (Character) - 1978
No Score Yet No Score Yet Widow Lynn Caine (Character) - 1976
No Score Yet No Score Yet Lives of Ben Franklin: The Statesman Unknown (Character) - 1975
No Score Yet No Score Yet Hurricane Lee Jackson (Character) - 1974
No Score Yet No Score Yet It Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Guy Janet Walters (Character) - 1974
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Waltons: An Easter Story Olivia Walton (Character) - 1973
No Score Yet 90% The Waltons' Crisis Olivia Walton (Character) - 1973

TV

Credit
52% 69% Monsters Catherine Dahmer (Character) 2022
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Waltons Olivia Walton (Character) 1972-1979 2010
No Score Yet 95% Cold Case Unknown (Guest Star) 2009
83% 86% Scrubs Mrs. Wilk (Guest Star) 2006 2009
78% 83% Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Candace Lamerly (Guest Star) 2003
No Score Yet No Score Yet Pensacola: Wings of Gold Unknown (Guest Star) 2000
No Score Yet No Score Yet Promised Land Unknown (Guest Star) 1998
No Score Yet No Score Yet Profiler Unknown (Guest Star) 1998
No Score Yet No Score Yet Wiseguy Rachel (Guest Star) 1990
No Score Yet No Score Yet Living Dolls Trish Carlin (Character) 1989
No Score Yet No Score Yet Who's the Boss? Unknown (Guest Star) 1989
No Score Yet 89% Murder, She Wrote Maria Hudson (Guest Star) 1989
No Score Yet No Score Yet Nurse Mary Benjamin (Character) 1981-1982
No Score Yet No Score Yet Gunsmoke May Lassiter (Guest Star) 1973